Denial Never Felt So Good
by forbrighterdays
Summary: You never forget your first love, and Blair and Nate certainly haven't forgotten their's, but what do you do when you're stuck in a situation and there's no easy way out? BN/BC. Futurefic.
1. Prolouge

**New story!** **This idea kind of just came to me while I was typing up the 4****th**** chapter for Who We Used to Be (don't worry, I'm putting it up later!) So I have no idea where it's going to go. So just give it a chance, I have a really good feeling about it.**

**If you put it on your story alerts please review! I love to know what you guys think.**

**Also, this is like the prologue, the next chapter is going to be the day before the wedding.**

**---**

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations, you two."

"Oh, you're going to be so happy together. You're the perfect couple."

Nate Archibald stood, waiting in the receiving line, taking in the words of the people who had just congratulated his best friend and ex-girlfriend on getting married. He couldn't help but think that only last year he and Blair were called 'the perfect couple' and told they were going to get married one day. Nate had never really minded, he knew that one day he and Blair probably would get married. They had always been together, and most of the time it felt like they were just _meant _to spend the rest of their lives together. Somehow it felt totally wrong to hear someone call Blair and Chuck the 'perfect couple'. It felt like people had been lying to him and Blair all along, or they had just lied to Blair and Chuck.

Nate had gotten used to the fact of Blair and Chuck being together, he hadn't really minded for a while, in the back of his mind he still thought that he and Blair were still going to get married someday, even though they weren't kids anymore that listened to their parents directions or dating advise. But ever since Chuck had proposed and Blair accepted, it had started to hurt Nate to see her with someone other than him. Especially his best friend, who had never shown any interest in Blair until the worst time possible, when Nate didn't know how he felt about her. It was like time was running out for him, but he didn't know what to do about it.

He couldn't believe it had taken him 18 years, pretty much his whole life, to figure out he had been in love with Blair all along. But it was too late for them to have a happily ever after, like she had always wanted. And seeing them standing here together, just married, and so happy, he wondered why he bothered to come to the wedding. He realized that he had totally missed his chance.

It was finally Nate's chance to congratulate the couple. Blair had the biggest smile across her face, but her eyes were void of the excitement that he loved about them. Nate smiled and clasped Chuck's hand in a firm handshake, and hugged him like they were brothers. Then, he stepped over to Blair and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She smiled brightly up at him, but something in the way she was acting made Nate feel uncomfortable. Then he finally spoke.

"Congratulations guys. I'm really happy for you two. I know you'll be really happy together." Nate said with faux happiness.

Blair could tell that something was off with Nate, but Chuck, who was totally oblivious of Nate's weird actions, had already turned to the next couple congratulating him and Blair. Blair still had her eyes on Nate, ready for him to tell her what was up, but he didn't say anything. She was about to turn back to the receiving line when Nate touched her arm and leaned into her ear. "Find me later? I wanted to talk to you."

Blair's eyes flickered with excitement as she nodded. "Yeah sure, I'll see you later."

Then she turned back to the line and Nate walked into the party.


	2. Thinking is Good for the Mind

**The Day before the Wedding**.

Blair Waldorf sat in her hotel room, contemplating the events of tomorrow, her wedding day. She had never been more excited or afraid or nervous in her whole entire life than she was right now. She was finally getting married! The day she had dreamed about so many times throughout her life was finally here, less than 24 hours away.

Everything had remained the same as she had already planned when it came to the decorations, even the caterer was the same as she had planned when she was expecting to marry Nate someday. The only thing that had changed was, well, the groom. Her whole life she had just known that when it came down to it, Nate would be standing at the altar, right beside her. But here she was, on the eve of her wedding, sporting the engagement ring of, not Nate, but Chuck Bass, Nate's best friend.

At first it had felt weird, being engaged to Chuck, but she knew it would all turn out alright. She did love Chuck, and he had always been there for her when she needed him most, unlike Nate. The only difference was that he just wasn't Nate, even if in some ways that was better for her, it sometimes scared her that she had been able to move on so easily from him, and this time the split would be permanent.

And even though she thought she was making the right choice she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if things had worked out differently with Nate. Would he be with one she was waiting to marry tomorrow? Would she already be married to him? or would they still be dating, both of them so happy together that they knew they would get married someday, just not now.

Right now, at this point she had no clue what was in store for her. All she really wanted, more than anything, was to know what somehow, everything would turn out alright.

-----

Chuck Bass sat in his hotel room, looking over his vowels and trying not to make himself puke at all the sappy lovey-dovey crap he had written. Chuck would have never thought he'd be getting married at such a young age, he thought he _might_ settle down in his later years, but he would spend his youth hooking up with random hot girls, getting drug, and hanging out and getting high with Nate, who would tell him all about his married life with Blair. That was the way things were supposed to be, those were the things everyone had counted on growing up.

When Chuck had imagined his future bride, or brides, he had always thought they would be young, gorgeous, leggy blondes, defiantly not Blair Waldorf. Blair was supposed to be Nate's, always and forever, as she had said countless times before. But here he was, on the eve of his wedding going over the vowels Blair had _made_ him write.

Suddenly he wished he was Nate, not a care in the world, not having to deal with a demanding girlfriend, or a demanding anything. He was on his own, which was how Chuck had pictured his life as an adult, free to do whatever he wanted, but you weren't exactly free when you were 23 and about to get married to Blair.

Ever since they had gotten engaged she had been acting pretty strange, but he had just assumed it was because she wanted everything in their wedding perfect, she had always been the perfectionist, and probably always would be. All the crazy controlling things about Blair aside, he still loved her-she was his first love, but her first love was Nate, and sometimes Chuck just didn't think he would ever measure up, in her eyes or in anyone else's. Nate was the golden boy, the one destined to be with Blair Waldorf; Chuck was not supposed to be that guy, he was the bad boy, the one that no one had really expected to see make something worthwhile out of his life.

-----

Nate Archibald was sitting in his room, sitting on his bed and staring out the window at the darkening New York skyline. Off in the distance he could barely make out the top of the Plaza Hotel, the hotel Blair and Chuck were getting married in tomorrow, and the hotel they were both staying at right now.

It felt crazy, him just sitting here on the ever of Blair's wedding. For longer than he could remember, he knew that when it would be Blair's wedding it would also be his. It was just one of those things that you always thought would stay constant. But it hadn't, as she was getting married to his best friend tomorrow, leaving him behind for good. He didn't think he would ever truly lose Blair though, you can't just lose you're first love; no matter how hard you want to leave them behind and start you own life.

Nate wasn't even really sure why he had been invited to their wedding. At first he thought it was a joke, like 'ha! I'm getting married and its not going to be with you!' but he soon realized that wasn't it, him and Chuck hadn't been the closest of friends ever since Chuck had stolen Blair away after her pregnancy scare in their junior year, but about a day after receiving the invite Blair and Chuck had come over to talk to him. Chuck had said he wanted to be friends again, and he had asked Nate if he could ever possibly forgive him. The conversation for Nate had been pretty awkward for him with Blair there, she was, after all, the cause of their rift, but Blair seemed totally comfortable holding Chuck's hand and watching the boys talk over everything and become friend again.

Even though Nate wanted to be a good friend to Chuck he knew he would never quite get over Blair, and even though it would kill him to see them together, being the happy couple everyone had expected him and Blair to be, he knew he was going to have to get used to it.

But there was still one more night, one more chance to change things before their marriage would become official.

**A/N: that was a little short, but it was mostly just to get you into the character's minds. The next chapter is going to be longer, and really good! Review please!**


	3. Phone Call & Football

**The Day Before the Wedding**

Nate picked up his phone and dialed Blair's number. He knew he probably shouldn't, but what was wrong with two old friends going out to dinner?

After a few rings Blair picked up.

"Hello?" she said

Nate paused, he thought about hanging up, but Blair knew it was him from the caller I.D. "Hey, uh Blair, it's Nate. What are you up to?"

"Oh! Hey Nate! I'm fine, you know, just getting ready for the wedding. How about you? How've you been? Gah, I haven't talked to you in forever!" Blair exclaimed.

"That's cool" Nate replied, suddenly wishing he hadn't called to begin with. "I know. I feel like we haven't really gotten a chance to _really_ hang out since junior year or whatever "

There was silence on the other end. Nate knew she was thinking of how they're relationship had ended and they had turned into people that barely waved or said hi when they saw each other. Nate was thinking the same thing.

"Yeah," Blair finally said, breaking up the silence "Nate, why did you call?" she asked.

"I, well I was just wondering if you wanted to go out to eat with me tonight." Nate replied slowly.

"Nate" she scolded "I'm getting married tomorrow; I can't just 'go out to dinner with you'"

"Why not? Nate asked quietly "its just dinner, and the fact that your getting married tomorrow just makes it even more obvious that we need to, once your married we'll never be able to hang out anymore, this is our last chance. And I know I haven't really shown it, but I've missed you, a lot, and I just want to make up for all the shitty things I've ever done to you."

Blair didn't say anything for a while, she was contemplating her options. One, to stay in this hotel room, bored out of her mind; or two, go out to dinner with Nate, the boy she had always loved an probably always would. And he was right, once she was married to Chuck he would probably want her all for himself, not that that would be a problem, but that would also more than likely mean she couldn't hang out with other men.

"Why not?" she echoed him quietly.

"What was that?" Nate asked.

"I said sure," Blair announced boldly "I would love to go to dinner with you."

"Great" Nate exclaimed. "When can you be ready?"

"Give me 20 minutes."

"You got it; see you then."

Nate spent the next 10 minutes going through everything in his closet, looking for something to wear out to dinner with Blair. He didn't want to look _too_ formal, but not too causal. When he finally did pick something to wear he called his driver to come pick him up. Nate spent most of the ride to The Palace trying to figure out what he was going to say to her over dinner. He wanted to say he was sorry to her about everything and he wanted to confess everything he had been going through since she had gotten engaged to Chuck, but Nate had never been big on feelings, or telling about them, especially not to Blair. And he knew he didn't want to get all mushy on her, because he was definitely not a wimp, and he didn't want her to think he was.

"Mr. Archibald, we've arrived" the driver announced, breaking Nate from his revere.

_Shit_ "Okay, thanks; just wait out here for a minute, we'll be right out."

As soon as Nate stepped into The Palace he realized that he didn't know where Blair's room was and he knew it would look fishy if he asked where _her _room was, not his best friend's, so he pulled his phone out and called her.

"Hey Nate, I'll be ready in a second"

"Okay, that's fine. Where's your room? I'll just come up and get you."

"Tenth Floor, but just wait down in the lobby; all the bridesmaids are on this floor and if they hear or see you come to my room they'll think something's up. And I've been avoiding all their pre-wedding celebrations all night; they'll probably be pissed if they knew I was leaving."

"Ha okay, well I'll just wait down here then."

"Okay, great. I'm getting into the elevator now, so I'll be down in a second."

"Alright, bye"

Nate put his phone back into his pocket and sat down on one of the chairs in the lobby, awaiting Blair's arrival.

He didn't have to wait very long for Blair to come down. Before he knew it, she was standing in front of him in a pale yellow sundress, care of Cosabella, and her hair was down in gentle waves.

Nate stood up and smiled at her.

"Wow. You look beautiful."

"Well thank you, I try." Blair giggled.

"Yeah, so are you ready to go?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't know how much longer I'd have to be locked in my room."

"Well I'm happy to help." He said as he led the way to the hotel entrance.

"So should I be worried about Chuck beating me up for taking you out?"

"Hm.. I don't know. Probably, but I don't think he'll know your bringing me out for dinner, unless he's standing at the window of his suite watching the people pass by on the streets."

"Ek, well then maybe I should leave first, have the driver go around the block a few times then come back and get you; just to be safe" Nate winked.

"No, I don't think you have to worry about it, Chuck's probably having way to much fun with everyone on his floor to be watching out the window anyways."

They both laughed.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Nate agreed.

"So why didn't you join in with the bachelor party and all that stuff they've got set up for Chuck?" Blair questioned.

"Oh I don't know, I just didn't really feel like partying tonight." Nate told her. The reason he wasn't too thrilled about the bachelor party and everything that was going on was because it's kind of hard to celebrate the fact that your best friend is marrying the love of your life. And Nate knew he'd probably leave early because he couldn't take the celebrations very long.

Blair eyed Nate suspiciously, but didn't say anything.

"So where exactly are we going?" she asked him as they exited the hotel.

Nate opened the door and motioned for her to go first through the front doors. "That's for me to know and you to find out" he told her with a smug smile.

Blair laughed, "Well then, I guess I'll just have to wait and see; you were never good at keeping secrets though." She said as she eyed him expectantly and she latched herself onto his arm.

"Not this time." He smiled.

Blair laughed again and they both got into the town car parked outside and drove off towards they're destination.

-----

The surprises and celebrations that a few of Chucks friends from college had planned hadn't started yet and none of the guys would even let Chuck into the suite that the festivities were being held at, so he had nothing to do but walk around his room trying to think of things to do to consume his attention until the party began. He had contemplated calling Blair, but he knew that she, ever the romantic, probably thought it was bad luck to even hear his voice before the wedding, so he held off. He also thought of calling Nate, but he had seemed a bit out of it lately and Chuck had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that tomorrow Blair would officially be Blair Bass, meaning he had no shot with her anymore, so Chuck left him alone. But he couldn't help but think that the party would be a lot more fun with Nate there, and even though everything between them was awkward lately, they were still best friends, and Nate would think of something to cheer him up.

Nothing in the room could even distract him from the annoyance that the party wasn't even done being set up yet, he couldn't help but think that whatever Blair's bridesmaids had picked for all the girls to do had already started and they were all having a blast with whatever they were doing.

Chuck got off the couch where he was half-watching a football game on Fox and walked over to the window. At least if he was watching the outside world something a little more exciting than watching Tom Brady running around in tights would happen.

Chuck's theory turned out to be correct, seeing as when he stood in front of the window he spotted two people exiting the hotel, the girl wearing a pale yellow dress with her chestnut brown hair in soft waves and the guy in a light blue dress shirt with kakis. The girl had her arm weaved in the guy's and she was laughing at something he had just said. Chuck knew those people, even from 5 floors up from the ground he could tell exactly who they were. Blair and Nate. He felt his breath get caught in his throat. There were so many questions running through his head. Why were they together, on the eve of his and Blair's wedding? Were they having a secret affair behind his back? How long had this been going on? How could Nate do this to him? All Chuck wanted to do was jump out of the window and strangle Nate. Nate, of all people, would know what it felt like to lose Blair, why was he putting his best friend through the same thing he had gone through. Unless Nate was just doing this for revenge on Chuck, to get back at him for stealing Blair away all those years ago. Chuck had no idea how this could have happened, even though he'd thought Blair still hadn't gotten over Nate she'd never shown it, and she was always so happy when they were together. It just didn't make sense.

Just then Chuck's door slammed open and a few of the guys piled in.

"Hey man! There you are, come on, lets all get shit faced!"

"We got the party set up. Now all we need is the bachelor"

"Come on, dude, the strippers are waiting!"

Chuck just laughed at them, trying to make it seem like he was okay. It didn't seem to be a hard task though; they were all already shit faced.

As they exited the suite Chuck couldn't help but think he should have just stayed on the couch and watch the damn football game.

---

**A/N:** **I was half-watching the super bowl as I typed this (: haha that's where the inspiration of Tom Brady came from.**

**Btw; YAY GIANTS! (:**


	4. Dinner & Parties

**Chapter 4:  
****Dinner & Parties**

The ride to The Modern, the special place Nate was bringing Blair to, was a silent one, neither of them really had much to say, and they knew they were going to have plenty of time to talk over dinner, and they didn't really know what to talk about anyway.

Nate was nervous the whole night would be awkward, but he and Blair had always been friends, and they had always been together before they were actually _together_, so he hoped he didn't have anything to worry about.

Blair had noticed Nate acting kind of strange all night, but she'd put the thoughts to the back of her mind. Tonight was about starting over, and if she and Nate were ever going to become friends again she couldn't be suspicious of him like she had been the whole time they were together, it just wouldn't work.

--

Chuck's bachelor party was in full swing by now. The music was at full blast and the guys were all crazy drunk, a few of Blair's bridesmaids had even made it down to Chuck's floor to join in with the festivities. Everyone was having such a great time, and most of his friends were so out of it they didn't even notice Chuck, the bachelor, the one they were here to celebrate for, or with, was sitting in the corner downing his own bottle of Chardonnay while he indulged in his pity party.

Chuck had never been one to mope, but then again, he had never been one to fall for a girl and dream about a future with her, and that had happened, but Chuck couldn't help but be depressed over seeing Blair and Nate leaving The Palace together. He would have called her to see what was going on, but then he would have to admit he had been staring out the window because he was bored and his party hadn't gotten started yet. And if he would have called they probably would have gotten into a fight because Blair would think he didn't trust her, and he just couldn't deal with telling her that he did trust her, he just honestly didn't trust Nate.

Two of Blair's bridesmaids approached Chuck with concerned looks on their faces.

"Chuck, what's wrong sweetie?" One of them asked. Chuck was pretty sure it was Olivia, Blair's friend from Yale without even looking up from his shoes. Olivia had always had a thing for Chuck ever since meeting him, and if he admitted he was completely drunk she would probably seize the opportunity to take advantage of him.

"Nothing really, I'm just bored is all. All the guys are too drunk to say anything meaningful and I just miss Blair." Chuck droned out, then he sat up straight and looked at the two girls, maybe Olivia would know where Blair was. "Hey, um Olivia, where's Blair?"

The other girl answered, Tinsley, another friend from Yale. "Oh, Blair's in her room. Poor girl, she wasn't feeling too good. She said she needed to be by herself to get her thoughts together or something. I don't really know, she's been a little out of it since we checked into the hotel."

"Oh, do you know if she had plans to go anywhere?" He questioned, he knew he was treading on thin ice, but he just had to ask.

Olivia was dumbfounded. "Where would she be going?"

"That's what I'd like to know" Chuck muttered.

"What was that?" Tinsley asked, obviously Chuck had said it a little too loud. "Where do _you_ think Blair is?"

"Well if you two say she's in her room then I guess she is. I just wanted to talk to her, but she'd probably get annoyed or something."

"Probably," Tinsley pointed out, "I mean it _is_ the night of her wedding, she has enough stress to deal with without you calling her 'just because'."

"Yes," Olivia continued, "and if I know Blair, like I think I do, she's probably just turned in early and right now she's fast asleep in her bed, getting her beauty rest for tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess she probably is." Chuck said as he got up from the table. "Look girls, I'm going to go to bed, could you make sure the guys don't stay up too late? Or get too wasted, the worst possible thing for the wedding tomorrow would be to have half the wedding party hung over. So just make sure they all get to their rooms by at least 1."

"Sure thing," Olivia promised.

"Yeah, we'll take care of them Chuck, just go to you're room and get some rest, you look like you could use it."

"Thanks Tinsley, night girls." Chuck mumbled, turning toward the door.

"Goodnight," the girls said in unison.

--

"So what exactly were those crazy bridesmaids doing that made you stay in your room all day?" Nate asked as they sat down at the table, it was the question he had been itching to ask all night; well not the only one, but the other question could wait, right now was about getting comfortable with each other again.

"Oh trust me; you don't even want to know." Blair laughed.

"Actually I do, what was so bad that you couldn't stand hanging out with them?"

"They were just acting so weird and they kept asking me where I wanted to go for my one year anniversary and other stuff like that. Like they wanted me to describe what I thought our babies would look like. I just told them I was _just_ getting married and I hadn't even planned any of that stuff out, even though I have. I just didn't want to tell them that. So then I said I'd rather be alone so I could get my thoughts together and not be freaking out so much about the whole thing and they bought it; thank God."

Nate just laughed. If any of her bridesmaids knew Blair as well as they should they would have known that it was very feasible that Blair had already figured out where she wanted to go for her 50th anniversary and all the ones in between.

"Anyone that knows you at all would know how much you like to plan stuff out, especially your future." He said aloud, just to subtly point out to her he knew her better than her own friends.

"Yeah," Blair laughed, "I do have a natural ability for planning out my future, its just one of my many hobbies." She said sarcastically, but her words were completely honest," But hey, what have you been up to? I feel like we haven't really talked since when? Like junior year."

"Junior year…" Nate mused, the horrible memories coming back to him. "Yeah, everything's been so crazy since then. I've missed you, a lot."

Blair looked uncomfortable, but only for a split second, she put a smile one before he could tell anything was up, but he didn't even notice, he was too busy twirling his drink around with the straw.

"I missed you too." She replied.

They talked for the next hour about anything and everything that popped into their heads. They were getting the bond back, the one that everyone had always been jealous of. Every time Nate opened his mouth to speak Blair could predict exactly what he was going to say, the same went for Nate with Blair. They weren't even paying attention to the clock, just catching up on everything they had missed in the last few years, and the huge amounts of alcohol they were digesting helped push the conversation right along, even when they didn't know what to talk about next.

As they talked and talked it just kept getting later. After a while Blair's bladder couldn't take all the liquid she had consumed, so she excused herself and went to the bathroom. As she was washing her hands her phone starting beeping with an alarm. She pulled out her phone and read the message.

IT'S YOUR WEDDING DAY!

DON'T FUCK ANYTHING UP.

_Oh shit_, she thought, _I need to get back to the Palace._

--

**I'm working on Chapter 5 right now, I'll try to get it out by the end of today, but I don't know if that'll happen or not. **

**:D**

**Reviews are loved.**


	5. Clocks & Kisses

**Ahh I'm sorry! I tried so hard to get this chapter out by last night, but I'm sick, so when I snuck into the computer room my coughs gave me away and my parents could here that I was in here and they told me I needed to get to bed. Sorry!**

**But I added a lot of other stuff for you're benefit. (:**

**Enjoyy! **

**Chapter 5:  
Clocks & Kisses**

**--**

Blair rushed back to the table as fast as her legs could carry her. _It's twelve o-clock, it's midnight, it's my wedding day. I need to get back, I need to get back to the hotel and get in bed._

Nothing had gone right, she was drunk at The Modern with Nate on the eve of her wedding, well, according to the stupid cell phone in her hands, it was the day of her wedding and she definitely wasn't in bed getting the rest she needed. She was _supposed _to be in her hotel room, either asleep or having phone sex with Chuck, there was no rule against that; they just couldn't see each other before the wedding. But at this minute she was no where near her bed, or even the hotel for that matter, and even thought she was too drunk to produce a semi-educated sentence, she knew she had to get back to the Palace, pronto.

"Naaate, we realllly neeeed to get back tooo, get baaack to…" _oh shit, what's that place called?_"To the Palace?" Nate offered.

Blair nodded her head in agreement, _why do girls always get drunk so much easier than guys? It's just not fair._

"I know, I just paid the check, lets get you out of here and into your bed." Nate said as he helped her up from the table and led her to the door.

--

12:00

Chuck sat in his hotel room staring at the clock on the bedside table, as if it would hold all the answers he needed. He had been pacing his room ever since he had left the party over two hours ago. He really needed some sleep, that much was apparent, his hair was disheveled from constantly scratching his head, and the under part of his eyes were an irritated red from all the rubbing he had been doing just to stay up.

All he wanted, more than anything, was to be able to call Blair and see if she was asleep, or pacing the room with anxiety, like he was. He just want to hear her voice telling him that he didn't need to worry about the dinner-date she and Nate had gone on, she was his, nothing Nate could do would every tear them apart. Or that she couldn't wait to become Mrs. Blair Bass, and that she had spent all her free time doodling her new name over and over on the complementary stationary provided by the hotel.

As much as Chuck wanted to believe that he had nothing to fear from Nate he just couldn't. Blair had loved Nate unconditionally since they had been kids, and being friends with Nate for all that time he knew that Nate had loved Blair too. He knew better than anyone that if Nate showed any interest in getting back together with Blair that she would be in his arms in a second. Over the past few years Nate had kept his distance, he'd said 'hi' to Blair at dinner parties or where ever they happened to see each other, but he never really went out of his way to have a conversation with Blair and really catch up on things.

Until now.

At this moment Blair and Nate were probably having so much fun together, Nate was probably making her laugh in a way Chuck had never been able to do. They had so much to catch up on, and if they were actually catching up on everything they had missed in each other's lives then they would probably be gone all night. They'd always had such a strong bond, and Chuck had a feeling that even in they're distance from each other the bond was still there.

Chuck didn't want to think about that. He wanted Blair to be asleep in her bed and possibly dreaming of him. He wanted her to be counting down the hours and minutes until their wedding. But somehow he knew she probably wasn't doing that.

--

The driver Nate had ordered to drive him and Blair through town had been driving around in his down time and gotten into an accident, so needless to say, they no longer had a driver to get them back to the Palace.

Between the time they had entered The Modern and the time they left, a huge thunderstorm had rolled in and taken over the city. The storm clouds were dark gray and black and they covered the sky as far as the eye could see, it was also raining very heavily. The storm had been unexpected, so no one was prepared. The people that were still out and about ran from place to place so they wouldn't totally drench their summer clothes.

Blair's light summer dress had proven no match against the heavy rains, and the light yellow fabric left nothing to the imagination while it was soaked through. She shivered from the cold as the damp fabric clung to her goose bump covered body.

When the door manager outside The Modern had finally procured them a taxi Blair and Nate dashed into it, Nate gave the driver the address of The Palace and they were off.

"Ahhh I can't belieeeve it's already midnight-t-t," Blair managed to get out while her teeth chattered insanely fast. "It-t-t feels like we juuuust left for dinnnner."

Nate was astonished at how drunk Blair was, he had known her his whole life and he had never seen her this wasted, it was almost unsettling how un-Blair-like she was being at this moment.

"Yeah, I guess time really does fly when you're having fun." Nate tittered, although he wasn't as drunk as Blair was he was still pretty intoxicated. The sound of his own voice made him laugh.

"It's sooooo cooold!" Blair exclaimed. "It's suupoosed to be suuumer, summer is hottt, wha happened?"

"Alright folks, we're here." The driver announced.

"Thanks man," Nate said as he handed him a twenty, "keep the change."

"Buuuurrr! Lets gooo!" Blair cried. She hadn't grabbed a jacket or anything, she hadn't expected she would need one; it was summer, after all.

"Okay, let's get you inside. Come one."

Nate helped Blair into the hotel and to the elevator. She was half-asleep in his arms, so he had to dig through her purse to find the room key to see what floor she was staying on. When they entered the elevator he pressed the button for Floor 10 and the elevator started moving up while Blair freaked out because of the sudden movement.

The elevator reached Blair's floor and Nate and to carry her down the hall and into her room because she had dozed off while they traveled up to her floor. Nate wasn't sure who was staying on the floor, so he planned to make it in and out of Blair's room as quickly as possible.

When Nate did finally get to Blair room he carried her in and set her on the bed. As he turned away and headed for the door he heard Blair jerking around in her sleep and her teeth chattering away from the cold of the hotel room air.

"Blair, are you okay?"

"Noooo. I'm faaa-reeezing, can't you teeeeell?"

"Yeah, I can, that's why I was asking. Do you want me to find you a change of clothes?"

"Noooo, I just want a roooobe, a niiice, warm, fluuufy robe. Get me one of those and then you can leave."

Nate backed away from the bed and went into the bathroom; there were two of the fluffy robes Blair had wanted on the shelf beside the shower. He grabbed one of them and a towel for her hair.

By the time Nate walked back into the bedroom of the hotel Blair was up and changing into some of her warm pajamas. He watched her as she hummed something that sounded like the wedding march under her breathe, she had her back turned to the hotel room as she looked out the window at the New York skyline at night. She looked beautiful. Her long chestnut hair was damp and full of waves from the rain. Nate knew that as long as he lived, he would never find another human being that captivated him like Blair did.

As Blair turned around and saw Nate staring at her, her breath got caught in her throat. She loved Chuck, yes, but Nate always seemed to excite her in a way Chuck never could. Just being watched by Nate made her heart race, she never wanted that feeling to go away, but she knew it had to. She had made her decision. Maybe if she hadn't been so set on getting married as soon as she graduated Yale things could have worked out differently. Maybe she would have been counting down the hours and minutes until she became Mrs. Blair Archibald. But if that was the case there was a pretty big chance she would have been wondering what would have happened if she would have chosen Chuck.

It was inevitable. These two boys, best friends since childhood, had each taken a part of her heart. Sometimes it seemed like she loved and wanted to be with Nate more, other time it was Chuck she was sure she couldn't live with out. Neither boy could have full claim on her heart, because she was still undecided about it herself.

And that scared her.

She should know, she should be absolutely positive that it was Chuck, that Chuck was the one she couldn't wait to marry, or spend the rest of her life with. But she just couldn't, not with Nate here, not with him looking at her like he loved her, like he had once upon a time. It seemed impossible that she had ever chosen Chuck over Nate, but she knew she had her reasons, and they were good reasons, she just couldn't seem to think of them right now.

"I got the robe from the bathroom, I also got a towel for you're hair," Nate said, pointing to the robe and towel on the bed.

"Oh, okay, thanks" she replied, "and thanks for tonight, I had a lot of fun."

"Ha yeah, it was fun, I haven't had such a good time just talking to anyone in a while."

"Same here, usually I get bored with just talking." Blair agreed. She should be sending him on his way, not continuing this conversation any further, but she couldn't help herself, she didn't want him to leave, at least not yet.

Nate could tell by the look on Blair's face that she wanted him to leave; she was just being polite and waiting for him to end the conversation on his own terms.

"Well I should probably be going, and you should get to sleep, you're getting married tomorrow, and Chuck deserves to have a beautiful bride." Nate laughed.

"Gee, thanks, so I guess you're saying I'm not beautiful with sleeeeep." She yawned.

"No, you're beautiful anyways, but you really should get in bed, you're exhausted. And it would be bad for you to fall asleep at the alter."

"Yeah," she had to agree with him, that would be the worst possible think that could happen tomorrow, or today, whatever.

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow," Nate said, checking the clock, it was 12:34. "Actually, I'll see you in about 12 hours."

He was stalling, that much she was sure of, but she was dying to find out why he was stalling.

"Tuck me in first?" It was a bold move, and probably not the smartest thing she could have done, but she was still pretty drunk, she could blame her lapse of judgment on the hangover she felt kicking in.

Nate hesitated, not really sure want to do. Of course he wanted to tuck her in, but he wasn't sure how much closeness either of them could take, and Blair wasn't always the most responsible drunk.

"Sure." He replied, he would just back off if she tried to do anything.

Blair walked over to the bed and waited for Nate to turn down the covers. When he did she hoped in and watched him pull them up around her. She snuggled into the fluffy blankets and let them heat her still-cold body.

Nate watched Blair crawl into bed and try to warm herself, her hair was still pretty wet from the rain and the bed was probably pretty cold because the air conditioning was on full blast. When she closed her eyes she stayed still for a while, almost like she was asleep.

Once Nate was positive that she was asleep he bent down and kissed her forehead, "Goodnight, pretty girl" He murmured. He pulled away only to find Blair staring right into his eyes. She wasn't asleep, she hadn't been asleep at all, and now she knew what he had done.

Nate was sure that she would be mad at him for kissing her when she was getting married to his sometimes best friend tomorrow, but instead she pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck, Nate knew he shouldn't be allowing her to do this, and she probably knew it herself, but neither of them could stop themselves when their lips met.

Blair was getting into it, she hadn't been kissed like this in a long time, Nate kissed her like he needed her more than anything, something that Chuck only did on occasion, but it seemed like it had been a long time.

Nate had forgotten how good it felt to kiss Blair, he hadn't really had any girlfriends or anything ever since he and Blair and broken up, no one could measure up to Blair. And even though he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help himself, if just felt so right.

They continued to kiss, sitting on the bed, until Blair started trying to take Nate's shirt. He knew that morally, this was wrong, he should have never allowed her to kiss him, but he did, but he knew that if this went any further they would both regret it.

"No, Blair, don't do this, you're with Chuck, you love Chuck." Nate pleaded.

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow I love Chuck, and I'm marrying him, but right now I want to be with you." Blair slurred, sleep taking over her mind.

She pulled him in once again and kissed continued to kiss him, but he pulled back again.

"Blair, stop" he said forcefully, "think about Chuck, would you want him to do this to you?"

"Chuck is at his bachelor's party right now, probably making out with all the strippers he wants, but that's okay, because he's a guy. But I didn't want to have a party, I'm letting him have his fun because he wanted a party, and right now I'm having my party. So please, just finish kissing me, then, if you still want to go, you can."

Nate knew that Blair knew what she was saying made no sense, she knew that Chuck loved her more than anyone and even if he was making out with a stripper right now if meant nothing to him because he just wanted to be with Blair, but she seemed not to want to think about that.

"Blair you and I both know that Chuck doesn't care about being with anyone but you. I don't understand why you want to constantly think the worst of him."

Blair suddenly understood what Nate was trying to tell her. It wasn't right for her to use Nate to get to Chuck, and it wasn't fair to anyone for her to be behaving like this so close to her wedding.

"I don't know, I trust Chuck, but he was just so excited about having his bachelor's party I can't help but think that he's in there making out with every girl possible." She confessed. "I'm a horrible fiancé."

"No, you're not, you're drunk, and I let it get out of hand. I should have just left when I got you into bed."

"It's not you're fault, Nate." Blair said quietly. She was frustrated, why couldn't he let her take the blame for it? Why didn't he just blame it on her, tell her she was being irresponsible and leave. She needed someone to yell at her after what she had just tried with Nate.

"Blair, come on, you really need to go to bed, it's late." Nate told her.

She looked at the clock, 12:46.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thank you, for this."

"Uh, yeah," Nate said awkwardly. "No problem. Well I guess I'll see you later."

He turned around and headed for the door. He turned off the lights and reached for the handle to exit the hotel room when Blair's voice called out to him.

"Wait. Can you do me one more favor?"

He was putty in her capable hands, whatever she wanted he would always end up doing. There was no way he wouldn't give into her favor.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Stay with me?" Blair asked timidly. "You know I hate staying in hotels by myself, and it's too dark in here. Just stay until dawn breaks, then you can go. Just stay the night. Please."

"I can do that." Nate said as he walked back over to the opposite side of the bed from where Blair was currently laying.

Nate knew it was detrimental to his mental and emotional health, agreeing to stay with her. But there was honestly no where in the world he'd rather be at this moment than here with her. If this was the last night they could ever spend together he'd be damned if he didn't make the most of it.

"Thank you." Blair said as she turned on her side to face him. His hand was lying beside his pillow, palm up to the ceiling, she reached over and laced her fingers in his, squeezing his hand tightly.

They both were asleep within minutes, and they slept like that, hand in hand, all through the rest of the night.

--

**So… what'd ya think?**

**To the people reading this for Blair and Chuck, don't worry, the next chapter is pretty much completely yours, there are only a few mentions of Nate, at least that's the case with the part that I've written.**

**Haha :D**

**REVIEW!!**

**Make my day. (:**


	6. Feelings & Scheming

**This chapter is dedicated to troubled.writings.x because she just dedicated an amazing story to me, and she gave me a boost of self-confidence by saying that my work becomes masterpieces. So this one goes out to you, because BN _is_ how we roll (: **

**Chapter 6:  
Feelings & Scheming**

--

Chuck woke up as soon as the alarm clock on the bedside table struck at 6:00 a.m. He had no idea what on earth he was supposed to do for the next six hours, but he just had to be up, there was no way he was going to be lolling around on the bed all day. He was too nervous to do such a lazy thing.

He sat on the edge of his bed for a while, scratching his head as he looked out the window at the sun rising over the skyline. Maybe he could check on the guys, see just _how_ hung-over they had become over the night. Or, possibly, if he had the guts, he would call Nate. They were still best friends, but Nate's intense bond with Blair always left things a little weird, plus, he'd probably end up accusing him of doing something with Blair last night with out knowing all the facts. But he'd leave that particular conversation for later, after he talked to Blair.

Yes, that was it, that was exactly what he would do. He'd call and check up on Blair, it was the perfect way to start a morning, maybe her voice would help calm him when nothing else could.

He reached over to his phone and started to press the 'call' button, where Blair's number was highlighted, but a message popped up on the screen before he had the chance, it was from Tinsley:

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. I NO WAT UR DOIN. STOP. DROP THE PHONE. **-T**

"What the hell?" Chuck asked aloud. _How the hell does Tinsley know what I'm doing?_

WELL THEN SMART1, WAT AM I DOIN? **C**

CALLIN B. WELL ABOUT 2. **-T**

_WTF? Is this bitch physic? _He thought.

HOWD U NO? **C**

CHECKED ON U LAST NIGHT. CLOCK SET 4 6. I FIGURED IT OUT. DUH, UR PHONE WAS ON THE BEDSIDE TABLE, RIGHT IN REACH, W/ B'S # HIGHLIGHTED. **–T**

OH, UH THX, BUT I STILL WANT 2 CHECK ON B. **C**

SHES FINE. I CHECKED ON HER 2 SHES FINE. DON'T WORRY. I'M AN (:0 **–T**

HA YEAH. WELL I'LL CU L8ER. **C**

KAY. BYE GROOMIE (: **-T**

Chuck didn't totally believe what Tinsley had said, but it did put some reassurance in his mind, if Blair was in her suite that had to mean she wasn't with Nate all night, right?

Hopefully suite 1018 had turned out to be a safe place for Blair to be.

--

Nate woke up before Blair, he could tell because when he rolled over he saw that she was still in the same position as she had been last night, Blair never moved in her sleep. He looked over at the clock to check the time. 9:03, that left them with about three hours to get down to the Grand Ballroom of the Palace to prepare for the wedding with the rest of the wedding party.

As Nate searched the room for his things he knew he had to do more than just get ready. Some how, he had to make sure no one else ever found out that he had stayed the night in Blair's suite in the first place. If someone were to find out everything would be ruined, his and Chuck's sometimes-there friendship, Blair and Chuck's relationship, everything they had all worked so hard on. He wouldn't be the cause of Chuck's distress if he were ever to find out where Nate had been the night before the wedding. No one would ever find out. No one ever _could_ find out.

He would take a quick shower in the room, get dressed, make sure Blair was up, sneak out of the hotel, spend some time at his apartment, then, when it was time, leave to get back to the Palace for the wedding.

Perfect.

--

When Blair finally did wake up it was 9:15, she rolled over and found the spot on the bed beside her was empty, leaving her to think that the last night had just been a dream, and that she hadn't done anything to potentially ruin her and Chuck's wedding.

Then she heard the run of the shower coming from the bathroom.

_Great,_ she thought, _I totally fucked up_.

Blair got up from the bed and started walking toward the bathroom door to tell Nate she was up, then she heard her phone ring. She thought about just leaving it and making whoever was calling leave a message, but curiosity got the better of her and she looked to see whose name was up on the screen.

Chuck.

Blair looked at the phone for a minute before deciding to pick it up, she wasn't sure what Chuck wanted, but she at least owed it to him to answer if he wanted to talk to her.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you?" She asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

Chuck let out a breath of relief and she wondered why.

"Oh yeah, I'm great. I was just calling to, um, to just see how you were." He sputtered.

"Oh." Blair let out a breath of relief; she thought he had known something. "I'm really good actually, I'm kind of nervous about everything, but I'm okay. What about you? I feel like we haven't spent a lot of time together this past week, and I'm really sorry. I should have let the wedding planner take care of all the last-minute details, but you know how I am and-"

"I'm nervous too" Chuck cut in. He could tell Blair was just by how she was talking, she always over talked when she was nervous. "And don't worry about any of that. Today is about you and me, and I don't mind in the least that you wanted to make everything perfect yourself. I know you have to make sure everything is exactly the way it's supposed to be."

"Yeah, thanks" Blair replied quietly, she thought that he would be a little mad at her for be so obsessed with the decorations, but she was glad he knew her so well. "So, um did you just want to check up on me? Or was there more you had to say?"

"I, oh um." He paused. He wished he could just say what he needed to say and hang up, but starting up a confrontation with Blair maybe wasn't the smartest thing to do on their wedding day.

"Well..?" Blair questioned. She still had to kick Nate out of the suite and take a shower, there was so much left to do, she couldn't spend all her time on the phone with Chuck.

Chuck remained silent, listening to something Blair couldn't hear, then he spoke.

"Why is your shower running?" Chuck asked confidently, it was easier to talk to her when he knew she couldn't get mad at him for something he said.

_Shit_

"Well, uh, I was, um. I was just about to get in the shower when you called, but I just left it running instead of turning it off when I answered the phone." She managed to come up with her alibi fairly quickly, she was impressed.

"Oh" Chuck responded softly, suspicion apparent in his voice, but he didn't press the subject any further, and for that Blair was glad.

They shared a few seconds in a tense silence, neither one knowing what to say next, then Nate started singing at the top of his lungs.

"I'm so hood, I wear my pants below my waist and I never dance when I'm in this place….." He bellowed from the bathroom, needless to say, Chuck heard.

"What was that?" He asked as soon as Nate's singing died down. (Blair had opened the bathroom door and thrown one of her black alligator Manalos at the shower curtain, causing Nate to cry out in pain.)

"It was, uh, my alarm; I guess I forgot to turn it off." She laughed; it was forced and awkward, not at all natural.

"Since when do you listen to rap, or whatever the hell that was?"

"Since never, it was just the station that was already set on the alarm and I couldn't be bothered to change it." Blair snapped. "What's with the twenty questions?"

"Sorry." Chuck said softly, "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh I'm sorry too, I'm just so stressed out about everything, I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you, sorry."

"It's okay"

A few more seconds of silence passed, but this one was comfortable.

Then Blair broke the silence. "Wow. I'm just so nervous. I mean, today is the day. No going back now."

"Yeah, I'm terrified." Chuck admitted.

"Ha yeah," Blair agreed. "I don't think I've ever been this nervous."

Then the conversation took a turn for the better. They talked for the next 15 minutes about how scared/nervous/excited they were for the coming celebrations, but they both agreed on the most important thing, they couldn't wait.

Chuck was still suspicious of Blair's abnormal behavior, but he tried to hide it and kept talking to her as if nothing was up. He didn't bring up the fact that her shower turned off when she was no where near the bathroom, or that her 'alarm' went off a few extra times.

Blair was nervous during their whole conversation, and it didn't help that Nate kept making his presence in her suite as obvious as he possibly could, and the worst part was that he didn't even know he was making things hard between her and Chuck, so she couldn't just yell at him for being stupid.

They ended they're conversation at exactly the right moment, almost as if it was perfectly timed. As soon as Blair put the phone down, Nate barged through the bathroom door, wearing his boxers and nothing else.

"What the fuck Nate? Couldn't you tell I was on the phone?" Blair screamed, then as an after thought added, "And put some clothes on."

Nate just laughed, "Yeah, I could tell. That's why I didn't come out of the bathroom until now."

"And the singing? Seriously, you have a horrible voice, why did you have to be screaming at the top of your lungs?" Blair was trying to remain composed and angry, but she couldn't be mad at Nate when he looked so adorable, having no idea who was on the phone.

"Hah. I thought that was a nice touch, I know you always loved my singing voice while we were dating, and I thought whoever you were on the phone with would enjoy it too." Nate sniggered at his prank. "So who was the unfortunate soul that had to listen to my singing expertise?"

All signs of laughter vanished from Blair's face as she broke the news to Nate. "It was Chuck."

Nate's face dropped as well. "Oh, shit."

"Ha yeah, now you decide to be serious." Blair scoffed.

"Does he know anything, what did he say when he heard me singing, _did_ he hear me singing?"

"Calm down," Blair interrupted. "You're lucky I can come up clever ruses off the top of my head, he still seemed pretty suspicious, but he stopped asking about the weird stuff once I snapped at him."

"Shit, shit, shit. I'm so sorry. I had no idea it was him. You know I wouldn't try to fuck things up for you two on purpose right? I didn't know." Nate spoke rapidly, trying to defend himself from the possibility of Blair's wrath.

"No, I'm not mad at you; it was stupid of me to answer his call with you so close nearby. And I get that you were trying to be funny, if it wasn't Chuck I would have laughed, but he jus couldn't know that anything was going on."

Nate was taken aback, he was sure she'd be furious, but she was actually saying that she thought he _was_ being funny, and that she _would_ have laughed? This was a first.

"Wait," Nate began. "You're saying that you thought I was funny?"

"I, uh, yeah, I guess. I don't know. I just thought it was cute how you were trying so hard to annoy me. So yeah, I thought that was funny, what you did." Blair stuttered.

"So I was being cute? That's why you would have laughed?" Nate laughed. He loved seeing Blair so uncomfortable, something that rarely happened.

Blair suddenly became very interested in the floor, she knew she shouldn't have thrown in the 'cute' comment, but sometimes she couldn't help but to let her guard down around Nate, especially after last night. When she didn't respond for a few seconds Nate chuckled at her embarrassment.

"Come here," Nate motioned with his arms open.

Blair hesitated for a split second, then she tip-toed over to Nate and tucked her arms into her chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry Blair, I really am. I must be making this harder for you, huh?'

"I, oh" she said in realizing what he meant, he was talking about her pending decision to leave him in the past and continue along with the rest of her life with Chuck at her side. Of course he was making it harder, they had always been so good together when they lightened up. "Yeah, you kind of are." She said as she pulled away from his chest to look him in the eye.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have called you yesterday. That was a real jackass move. I just couldn't help the thought of losing you forever with out getting a chance to do something about it before hand, but I should have left you alone."

"No!" Blair said quickly." Don't be sorry about it. It was good that you called. It was nice catching up, and seeing that I do still have feelings for you now is a lot better than figuring it out sometime during my marriage. I can still do something about it now."

It took Nate a second to connect what exactly Blair was saying. She was thinking about leaving Chuck, on their wedding day no less.

"Blair, don't leave Chuck." He pleaded. He was a terrible best friend, and she was trying to make him feel better for screwing with her mind.

"But sometimes he and I just don't work. Chuck connects with my evil and scheming side, but that's not who I am all the time. We get into fights so much, but when things are going well they're absolutely perfect."

Nate visible winced.

"Ha, sorry." Blair apologized sheepishly. "I guess I'm not making this any easier for you either."

"No, not really." Nate admitted. "But go on, what were you saying?"

"It's just that, well, we've been having some problems lately, like everything is always awkward. Ever since he proposed, it's like we've been treading on thin ice, like we're always scared one of us is going to screw up. And he's just so in love with me, and I can't see how he's gotten so attached when he spent all his teen years womanizing. But it's actually pretty amazing, seeing that _I_ made the change in him happen, so I know it would be completely selfish of me to leave him, when all he wants is me. But when you broke up with me I didn't think I'd ever have a chance with you again, so I stayed with Chuck because he made me feel comfortable, and he didn't make me feel bad about the horrible things I'd do, like you did sometimes, he encouraged me to mess with people."

"I should have seen it before," Blair said with a burst of intuition. "Every time we'd have a fight or disagreement _he_ was the one to come rushing to _me_, trying to fix everything up. I never went to him, so it's almost as if I didn't care one way or the other if we stayed together or not. I never did care, that's exactly what our problem is."

"Blair, sweetheart, stop, you know your just trying to lie to yourself to clear everything up in your head, but that's not the truth and you know it. You and Chuck work so well together, you play off each other in almost every way, you and I never could do that."

"Yeah, but you and I clicked so much better automatically, it was never forced until we had a fight and our _parents_ forced us to fix it. Opposites attract, Chuck and I are almost the same person, you and I complete the good and bad in each other." Blair pointed out.

"That's true," Nate agreed, "but you and Chuck click much better than you'd like to think right now. Maybe I should leave so you can sort everything out without have a mindset already in place." He said as he shifted toward the door.

Blair tightened her grip around his biceps when he tried to escape her grasp. "No, don't go. I don't want to be alone. And I can think just fine with you here."

Nate knew it wasn't really fair for him to stay, for him or Blair, or even Chuck, but he just didn't want to leave.

"Okay" He agreed. And he squeezed the absurdly adorable girl in front of him.

--

Chuck was holding his hand so tightly in his hand he thought it would surly break, but it didn't, and it allowed him to continue to stare at the name highlighted on his address book.

NATE ARCHIBALD

He knew that Nate was the son of a bitch that was in Blair's suite when he called. He was her 'alarm' that just kept magically switching on and off, and he was the one in the shower that Blair couldn't control.

It was him. And now Nate was probably trying as hard as he could to convince Blair to runaway with him and leave Chuck at the alter.

Nate had never gotten over Blair, that much was painfully obvious. Everyone could tell, except possibly Blair, but she would probably know by now.

And now Nate was trying to ruin the one good thing in Chuck's life, as if he hadn't done that enough himself, without Nate's help. But there was no way Nate was going to get away with taking Blair from him, and Chuck would be damned if he went down without a fight.

Instead of calling Nate's cell phone like he had originally planned, Chuck dialed the number of the one person he knew would always be there for him, no matter what.

"Good Morning, Mr. Bass, how can I help you?"

"Hello Dexter" Chuck said pleasantly. "I need you to check up on something I had done a few days ago."

"Of course, Mr. Bass, what do you need?"

"Did the surveillance cameras get set up in suite 1018?"

"Yes, sir, according to my records, the cameras have been set up and work perfectly. They connect to television 15B in our security room. The workers that said it told me that they would begin the live feed as soon as they were hooked up."

"And the cameras store what's already been recorded, correct?" Chuck said, making sure he'd have evidence no matter what.

"Yes, it looks like everything already recorded should be stored on the television; you'd just have to rewind it."

"Alright, thank you for your help, Dexter."

"No problem at all Mr. Bass, and good luck today, hopefully your wedding will go off without a hitch, you deserve it."

Chuck couldn't help but be joyful, even if today didn't turn out perfectly he knew he could destroy the two people who would more than likely be the source of the disaster.

Today was going to be great, he could feel it.

--

**I feel like I really lost the essence of Chuck at the beginning of this chapter when he was talking to Blair, which I hate. I try to keep the characters as close to their original as possible, but we've never really seen Chuck talking all lovey-dovey (haha, that's a funny word) so I kind of had to wing it. But he is slowly piecing everything together, so in the next chapter he should be more of his scheming self, which I love.**

**Also, the end of this chapter definitely wasn't in my plan, but once I started writing it, it just worked, so I kept going. So I honestly have no idea what's going to happen in the next few chapters, but I know how I want to end it, so hopefully that _will_ stay the same.**

**Thank you for reading; and REVIEW! Please?**

**(: Make my day!**

**Btw; check my profile for an additional note concerning all my stories.**


	7. Caught in the Act

**Sorry it's taken so long to update this; I always procrastinate when I know I should be doing something, which is really weird and twisted. Haha. So this was a weird chapter to write, and it was pretty challenging too, I had to go back to make sure all my details were correct and all that. And it was strange to kind of be writing through a looking glass, like none of it was happening at the time, but Chuck was just then seeing it unfolding, so yeah. Haha, and by the way, there's next to no dialogue in this, there is only a little bit at the end, and I only added it so that I could tie this chapter up, otherwise it would have been almost impossible. I apologize in advance, sometimes just narrative stories bore me, but this one's pretty good, I'd say. Lol.**

**Enjoy! & Review (:**

**Chapter 7:**

**Caught in the Act**

--

Chuck Bass causally strolled down the steps to the basement of the Palace Hotel, where the security room was located. He made it down the steps and preceded to the last door on the left side of the hall. Once he was in, he glanced at all the different screens for a second, like he always did. Then he was at the last monitor, the one put there just for him. The screen was off, but the red light on the DVD player was blinking red, a sign that showed that the camera was recording.

He pulled a chair over in front of the screen and pressed play. The first thing he saw was Blair pacing around her hotel room. He could faintly hear a beating on the door, but he wasn't really sure what it was, so he turned the volume up as loud as it would go. At first the static was unbearable, so he reached to turn it off, but before he got the chance, the sound automatically cut off and there was no noise at all coming from the monitor.

_Shit_, Chuck thought.

He tried to play with the sound cables for a while, but he had never been very good at dealing with electronics, aside from text messages and iPods, so he just stopped and watched the screen without any sound at all.

Blair was now sitting on her king-sized bed, looking out the window that overlooked the New York skyline. She seemed peaceful, almost pensive. He knew she was a little stressed out about the wedding, so she was probably thinking about it. After a while she laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, he was beginning to become bored with her innocent actions, so he fast forwarded a bit to see if anything remotely interesting would happen anytime soon.

She had been resting her eyes while he forced the tape to go double speed, then, something interesting happened, and Chuck pressed 'play' so he could see the scene unfold as it had happened.

Chuck assumed that Blair's phone had rung, because, suddenly, she was up from the bed and running over to her phone, which was sitting on the vanity. She paused when she looked at the caller id, but the confusion didn't stop her from putting the phone to her ear and talking to whoever was on the other line.

Her back was turned away from the camera, so her couldn't see the look on her face as she talked, but he had a feeling he already knew who it was, and sure enough, as soon as she got off the phone she was running over to her closet to put on the pale yellow dress he had seen her wearing the day before while she was practically attached to Nate's arm.

She rushed back over to the vanity and ran her brush through her chestnut locks a few times before putting some mascara, blush, and lipstick on.

After Blair got done putting her make-up on and checking how she looked in the mirror a few more times, she grabbed her purse from the closet and walked out the door.

Chuck knew that she was going out with Nate during this time, so there really wasn't any reason for him to continue watching what was going on in the empty hotel room. He reached forward to press the fast forward button and watched as the time kept getting later and later. By the time it showed midnight he was starting to wonder where Blair was, Tinsley had said that she'd checked on Blair, so he knew that she had to have been in the hotel room at some point. But she still wasn't there.

Finally, at 12:23, Blair appeared on camera, in the arms of _Nate_. Chuck played the tape in real time so he wouldn't miss anything that was going on. Chuck didn't know what was going on, and he hated that the damn sound had screwed up; not knowing if anyone was saying anything was driving him crazy. She looked dead, just laying there in Nate's arms. He carried her over to the bed and set her down.

When Nate turned around and started walking toward the door Chuck felt a huge wave of relief wash through him. He almost felt bad for spying on Blair. But then, on the screen, Nate was turning around, Chuck could see his lips moving, so he knew he was talking. Then Nate was leaving, heading in the direction of the bathroom. When he left Blair got up and stripped out of her dress and into a pair of pajamas. Chuck was glad she had waited until Nate left the room to take care of that, he didn't want her to be fully exposed in front of Nate.

Chuck watched as Blair stood there, just looking out the window, but when he looked at the corner of the screen, he saw Nate watching her too. He wasn't doing anything, just looking at her in a way Chuck had never seen Nate look at anyone else but Blair. She must not have known he was there, because when she turned around she jumped. It wasn't exactly a jump of shock though, more of embarrassment, then her face flushed, Chuck didn't want to try to imagine what Blair had been thinking about.

Nate spoke after a few seconds of awkward silence, he was gesturing toward the towel and robe that he'd laid out on the bed. They talked some more, both of them looking oddly uncomfortable. Chuck knew his friends well enough to know that neither of them knew what to do next.

He could see that Nate was shifting around, something he only did when he wasn't sure of himself, and Blair looked like she was just rambling on, not even sure of the words that were coming out of her mouth. They were nervous around each other, how perfect, this was exactly what Chuck needed.

Suddenly Nate became sure of himself. He said something and laughed, Blair joined in, and the uncomfortable phase was gone. Nate looked at the clock, and Chuck, following his actions, did the same. It was 12:34. As Chuck had looked at the clock, he'd missed if either Blair or Nate had said anything, but when he saw Nate was following Blair to the bed he couldn't help but get pissed off.

Chuck watched intently as Blair stood beside the bed and watched as Nate pulled down the covers for her, then Blair climbed in and Nate tucked the covers up around her body. She closed her eyes and tried to get into a good position for sleep. A few minutes passed and Blair looked like she was probably sleeping, she looked very peaceful; the only thing annoying Chuck about the view on the screen was that Nate was just standing there, watching her breathe.

He cringed as Nate bent over and kissed her forehead, wishing he could ring his _best friend's_ neck, but the cringing didn't stop there. When Nate pulled away Blair's eyes were wide open, almost as if she hadn't gone to sleep because she expected he would do something. They stared at each other as if they were having an intense wordless conversation for the length of a heartbeat, then Blair did the unthinkable, she sat up and wrapped her arms around Nate. They're lips were pressed together in only a matter of seconds, neither one looking like they would be pulling away anytime soon. It took Chuck all of his will power not to take his fist to the tv screen, he needed to know what else was going to happen.

When Blair reached for Nate's shirt buttons, Chuck did lose it, he kicked one of the nearby chairs into the expensive looking electric equipment on the table across the isle. It took a few seconds for him to calm down, but when he did he decided to chance a look at the screen, to see if either of them had done the honorable thing, he doubted it, but was more than pleasantly surprised when he saw Nate had moved away from Blair on the bed and he looked to be consoling her, or something to that extent. They were no longer making out, or holding each other, it actually looked like they were arguing, or at least Nate was talking some sense in to Blair, by the look on her face it looked like she was upset. Chuck couldn't help but think she deserved to feel bad, but he was more than pissed at the fact that Nate was the one that had had to hold her back.

They talked some more and Chuck felt extremely idiotic for managing to fuck up the sound, he had no idea what they were talking about, and it sucked. Then Nate got up from the bed, walking toward the door.

_It's about time;_ Chuck couldn't help but to think.

Chuck didn't like the look of loneliness on Blair's face as she watched him leave, she should be happy to be seeing him leave. As he watched Blair he thought he could see her mouth open, as if she was talking, he wasn't sure, so he glanced over at Nate, who had turned back from his trek to the door. Chuck expected to see Nate walk to Blair's side of the bed, but he was surprised when Nate walked to the other side of the huge bed, pausing to take his coat, shoes, and dress pants off.

He was getting in the god damn bed.

When Nate got into bed Blair turned her back to the camera to face him. She reached for his hand and left her small hand in his big one.

They looked asleep, and if they're weren't Chuck knew he didn't want to see anything else, so he fast-forwarded the tape, waiting until someone started to stir, then he could start his surveillance again.

Chuck saw Nate get up at 9:03; he was the first one of the two up. Chuck watched as Nate gathered his things from the side of the bed and went into the bathroom, after Nate disappeared from the screen he sped the tape up again, there was no point in watching Blair sleep, even though he loved to, when he needed to figure out if their marriage was totally doomed from the start.

Blair started stirring at 9:15; once she was fully awake she got out of bed and started walking toward the bathroom, where Nate was still in the shower. She was almost there when something made her turn around and walk over to the vanity. Chuck could see that her phone was in her hand, he didn't even need to check out the times of his recent calls to know that it had been him to call. After being up since 6 on that morning it had taken him three hours to finally calm down enough to call Blair. He loved how things had worked out.

Blair looked awkward on the phone, she had enough reason to, considering what had happened, or almost happened, last night. But he didn't like the fact that he was the one that made her awkward. He watched Blair listen and respond to the conversation they had been carrying out on the phone not even an hour ago.

Blair's body suddenly went rigid. She ran over to her closet as quickly as she could and grabbed one of her black heels, shoving the bathroom door open and throwing the shoe at what he assumed was Nate. He thought about their conversation and remembered Blair saying her alarm had gone off, singing some rap song horribly off-tune, now he knew for a fact that it had been Nate. If he hadn't have been so pissed off at her and Nate, he would have thought her reaction was funny. It almost reminded him of the playful banter that Blair and Nate were always involved in when they were together a long time ago, when they were still the happy, perfect couple.

There was nothing else slightly exciting going on in the hotel room until Blair hung up the phone and Nate came out of the bathroom, wearing a towel and nothing else, sometimes Chuck really hated how confident Nate appeared to be. Nate was smiling, apparently pleased with himself for being a complete nuisance while Blair had been on the phone, but Chuck assumed that Nate didn't know who was on the phone, or else he didn't think Nate would be looking so entertained right now.

They talked for a while. Chuck could only guess when Blair had spilled the beans to Nate that it had been him, Chuck, on the phone the whole time. Nate's face became hollow and he's eyes all but popped out of his head.

Watching them now, both of them knowing that whatever had happened last night was extremely wrong, was much easier. They both seemed content with just talking, remaining friends, but hopefully nothing more. Chuck did wince when Blair walked over to Nate and he put his arms around her, whispering unknowns into her ear. She pulled back to look him in the eye, her back to the camera, and they talked for some time like that.

After a while Chuck just got bored of watching them talk when he had no clue who or what they were talking about. He kept the tape going at double speed until it stopped, after checking the time at the bottom of the screen. Everything from here on out was happening at this very second, up 11 floors. He settled in, ready to watch whatever was going to happen when his phone vibrated. He knew it wasn't either Blair or Nate because at this very second Blair's phone was on the vanity as she was walking into the bathroom to take her shower and Nate was brushing his hair with Blair's brush.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, seeing on the screen that it was his father calling. He figured he had nothing better to do than answer; he had to be getting up to his floor anyway to make sure all the wedding party was up. Hopefully Blair would take care of her floor.

"Hello, father." Chuck spoke smoothly into the phone.

"Chuck, my boy, so, today's the big day, are you excited?"

"Of course I am, dad, it's my wedding day."

"Well yeah. To Blair Waldorf, who would have guessed? I still can't get over that speech you gave at mine and Lily's wedding, she was the one that inspired it all."

"Dad, that was over five years ago, get over it. It wasn't that great anyway. I don't know why everyone made such a big deal out of it."

Chuck could almost feel his dad shaking his head on the other line. They'd had this conversation, or ones similar to it, a lot since Chuck had decided to pop the question to Blair. Bart Bass still clung onto the one of the only things Chuck had ever done right publicly in his presence.

"Well I'm just proud of you, that's all. Even after you've managed to fuck up in just about every way with this girl, she still wants to be with you, and she's still willing to give her life to you. I always did think that Blair would end up with Nate, and you'd be the best man at they're wedding. My, how the times have changed, you've really stepped up."

With Bart's mention of Blair and Nate getting married, all of Chuck's good spirits disappeared rather quickly. He didn't need another reminder of how perfect they were together, he'd already had to witness it.

"Well they're not, apparently they weren't that great together after all, or else they would be getting married. But Blair's marrying me, not Nate. So everyone just needs to get over it if they still have a problem."

"Whoa, clam down, Chuck, I was just using that as an example of how much you've really proved to the world that you're a man, and not some little kid out for revenge against everyone that does you wrong."

_You'd be surprised_, Chuck thought, as he said, "Well yeah, I guess so."

"Alright, well you probably have to be going, but I'm just calling to say how excited and proud of you I am. All every father wants is for his son to find a good girl to spend the rest of his life with. I'm just glad you've found it with Blair.

"I am too, Dad. And you're right; I do really have to go. I'll see you at the wedding."

"Okay then, don't stress out too much, now. I'll see you later."

When Chuck glanced back at the screen he saw that Blair was still in the bathroom, and Nate had (thankfully) taken the time when Chuck hadn't been watching to change into his suit. Nate walked over to the nightstand and pulled the complimentary stationary out of the drawer. He wrote what Chuck assumed was a note to Blair and turned to the door, closing it behind him.

And then, the room was empty. So Chuck took this opportunity to peacefully get up from the desk and walk back out of the surveillance room. His work here was done, and he had what he needed.

--

**Back story on Bart, he and Lily are still happily married, and in the time between present Gossip Girl and this story, he and Chuck have gotten over they're problems and now they respect each other; they're friends.**

**Thanks for reading, review if you'd like, I love your responses (:**


	8. Drinks with a Friend

**I'm baaack! There is no excuse for the wait I've put you guys through, so thank you if your still interested in the story, and a double thanks if you review it; it'd make my day.**

**This one is for Fatimah, who basically wrote this chapter while I was figuring out how to get over writer's block. & also, for all my new friends at Fan Forum, I love you guys (:**

**Enjoy!**

**-----**

After Nate finished running Blair's brush though his hair he put the it down and took out some hotel stationary from the drawer of the dresser. He knew from experience that Blair took an extremely long shower, so he knew he'd have enough time to write a quick note to her and get out of the hotel room before they had the chance to talk again.

He desperately wanted to talk to her again, but he knew that it most definitely wouldn't be the wisest thing for him to do in their current predicament. The morning had held many delights for him; but he would never tell her how much their talk had meant to him, or the fact that he had been thrilled when she finally confessed her feelings for him.

Secretly, he wondered if Blair would stop him from leaving if she were in the room. But Nate would rather not know because it was egoistical and he'd rather not be disappointed with the answer.

These thoughts kept residence in his head until he got to the elevator, where he realized that if anyone saw him, he and Blair would have hell to pay.

Once the elevator reached the lobby, Nate tentatively looked around to make sure no one who would know him was around. No one was, so he took a deep breath walked as fast as he could to the front doors of The Palace. He had made it.

Almost.

"Nathanial!" A voice called out from behind. This was a voice Nate knew. ****. He was done.

Chuck. Bass.

-----

Chuck Bass was on a mission. He knew that in order to confront Nate before the wedding he needed to get to the main lobby before the fucker could make a run for it. Chuck couldn't believe the nerve. Blair had been his for years now. Years. And now Nate just suddenly figures out that he loves her too? Unbe-fucking-lievable.

Chuck raced as quickly as he could up to the main lobby, cursing when then elevator proved to be a horrible decision. He was sure that he could've run up the stairs faster than this thing was carrying him.

Finally, when he had made his way past a curious chief and annoying wedding planner, he arrived in the lobby. It was perfect timing actually, Nate was currently just exiting the elevator lift, trying to look covert and sneaky, but Nate had never been good at the spy games, so he actually looked kind of ridiculous.

Taking a second to catch his breath, Chuck casually called out. "Nathanial!"

Nate turned. Slowly. An uneasy look flushing his face, looking as if he were a deer caught in the headlights.

It was all Chuck needed to know.

-----

Dammit.

Of course this had to happen like this. Nate couldn't catch a break, except, of course, last night, but that hardly counted now. This was the consequence of his actions. Maybe if he had brought Blair back to the hotel earlier or if he had just left when he was supposed to, instead of crawling under the covers with her like he'd been doing it his entire life, then he wouldn't have to face the youngest Bass. Karma was such a bitch.

Chuck was going to murder him. He knew it. Chuck knew it. So it surprised Nate more than ever when the next words out of Chuck's mouth weren't hostile at all, they were actually sort of…friendly.

"Nathanial. How have you been?" Chuck asked politely, mentally envisioning himself strangling Nate.

"Uh, I'm good. What about you?" Nate said after a pause.

This was extremely awkward. And the fact that he wasn't absolutely sure that Chuck knew about him and Blair made it difficult to think of the correct thing to say. Was he supposed to be nice to Chuck? Pretend that there was nothing he had to be hiding from him?

"Great. I'm great. Today's the big day." He said a bit smugly, it wasn't his fault Nate had ****ed up so much. "Why are you here so early?"

"Uh, I was just looking for you. You know, wanted to see if you wanted to grab a drink in the bar before everything got crazy."

"Oh," Chuck said, nodding his head. "That sounds like a good idea, lead the way. Friend."

Nate led the way to the exclusive guests-only bar in the back, ready for Chuck to take a swipe at him from behind. This was Chuck Bass; after all, Nate hadn't even expected to get a word out before Chuck tried to do away with him. But Nate knew from all the years that he had been friends with Chuck that this was just how he did things. He schemed, planned, and plotted, waiting for the perfect moment to strike on his unlucky adversary. Today, that was Nate.

Once they took their seats at the bar and ordered their drinks (Jack and Tonic for Nate, Apple Martini for Chuck), the real fun began.

"So why were you coming from the elevator, Nathaniel?" Chuck dead-panned, watching Nate like a cat eyed a mouse.

"Like I said, I was looking for you,"

"Yeah, I heard that. But how did you know where to find me? You didn't know what floor I was going to be on."

At that moment Nate knew he was certainly dead. Chuck knew, he had known, this whole thing had just been a game. And Nate had lost, badly.

When Nate didn't answer his question, Chuck got to the real point of the conversation.

"I know about you and Blair."

"I figured." Nate muttered, looking down at the wooden, bar counter.

"What was that? You're lucky I don't beat the shit out of you right now for fooling around with her, but you need to at least have the decency of speaking up so I know what the hell you're saying. We're done, Nate, our friendship has been over since the second Blair walked out of the hotel with you on her arm last night. There's nothing you can say at this point to make your actions right, so I suggest you speak a little louder."

Nate still didn't speak. He didn't know where to begin. He wasn't about to come out and say that he had only fooled around with Blair that night, he had still betrayed Chuck, there was no easy way to say that.

"How long has it been going on?" Chuck asked impatiently, with just a hint of worry mixed in his voice. He didn't want to think that Blair and Nate had been having an affair all this time behind his back and he hadn't noticed a thing. What kind of fiancé would he be then?

"It was just last night." Nate said, finally finding the words to speak, refraining from telling the man across from him that he and Blair hadn't done anything severe.

"You expect me to believe that, Nate? After all, you came out of her room and lied straight to my face just a few minutes ago," countered Chuck, anger pumping violently through his veins. "I can't believe you did this to me; to Blair. You crossed a line."

"I crossed a line, Chuck? I crossed a line?!" spat Nate, clenching his jaw as his eyes flashed with aggravation before he stood up angrily from the bar stool. He let out a frustrated laugh. "You crossed the line first, Chuck! You destroyed this friendship when you slept with Blair."

"That was years ago, besides, it was over between you guys!" roared Chuck, also getting up from his seat, his anger matching his best-friend's.

"So what? Blair and I have been friends our whole lives. We would still be together if it weren't for you. I didn't do anything to screw up things with you and Blair, I've been a good friend to you this whole time, but you know what? I'm tired of it. I wasn't even trying to ruin things between you two, I just wanted to have dinner with her, that's it. Nothing happened last night; she needed someone and I was there. She doesn't even know why she ever wanted to be with you in the first place. You bore her." Nate spat, taking out all the anger he had been harboring for Chuck over the past few years.

"Up until last night you were still my best friend. You're supposed to be done with her!"

"Has it ever occurred to you before that I'm not? Have you ever seen me with another girl longer than a week, a month tops?" Nate sneered, roughly taking a hold of Chuck's caller, speaking into his face. "Or has poor Chuck Bass been too busy with Blair too notice how his best friend really is? If you had paid attention to anyone but yourself you would have noticed that I stopped coming over once you and Blair became a 'thing', you never cared though; you never even apologized for taking her."

Chuck pushed him back, turning his head to signal to the nervous bartender to give them some privacy.

"Don't," the shorter of the two spoke in a grave tone, a cold realization punching him in the stomach, enough for him to topple over. Those moments when it would be just the three of them, Chuck had never noticed how much wider Blair's smiles were and how much louder her laugh was around Nate. Nor had Chuck thought twice about those yearning looks he'd seen Nate send to his fiancée when he'd wrap his arms around her. Or how Blair was so adamant about him making Nate the best man, he should have seen, should have noticed long ago. She still loved Nate, of course she did. "Don't blame this on me. I'm the one who's engaged to her. I'm the one who's marrying her today."

And Nate knew it was true. He wasn't going to marry her that day, Chuck was. He realized that horrible people like him, the ones who took their first loves for granted, who almost slept with their best friend's fiancée, who were selfish enough to think that their feelings could vanish, didn't deserve the company or comfort that people like Chuck or Blair could give him.

"Stay away from Blair," warned Chuck, glancing at him, fixing his collar, "stay away from the both of us."

Nate watched silently as he left.

Unsure; insecure; alone.

Unsure of what to do next, insecure about what he was doing, and more than anything, alone in this big world, where he knew nothing and had no one to turn to.


	9. You Were So Condescending

Sorry for how long it took to get this update out! This is just a filler chapter for the most part, all Blair and Chuck. The next chapter will be much more interesting and hopefully I'll have it out before the end of the month. (That's not an April Fool's joke) ;)

Enjoy!

------

As soon as Blair was out of the shower, the hotel phone rang. She padded over to it, towel-drying her hair in the process.

"Hello?" She said as a greeting.

"Yes, Ms. Waldorf?" Replied a male's voice.

"This is she, and who is this?"

"This is Matt, down at the bar. Uh, I just saw Mr. Bass and Mr. Archibald getting in an argument. I'm not really sure what it was about, but I thought you might want to know. Maybe you could call Mr. Bass and see if he's okay, it was pretty intense. He's getting up from the table now and it looks like he's heading to the elevators. I don't want to intrude, but the elder Mr. Bass said it was the responsibility of all the employees to make sure the big day went off without a hitch, so I figured you should know."

Blair took all this in, growing angrier by the second. She didn't need a second guess to know what it was that Chuck and Nate had been fighting about. She couldn't believe that Nate had been so dumb as to come across Chuck before he made his escape, or that he'd stupidly ended up at the bar with Chuck in the first place.

"Thank you Matt, I'll be sure to check on him right now."

"You're welcome. Good luck today."

"Mmh" Blair replied, hanging up.

If Chuck was heading for the elevator that probably meant that he was coming up to pay her a visit, so she quickly threw her hair up and put on her robe as she waited for him to arrive. And sure enough, there was a knock at the hotel door within minutes, and shortly there after, her fiance was entering the hotel room, placing his universal room key back in his pocket. There had no point in waiting for her to respond, and Blair assumed Chuck had barged in in the hopes of possibly catching her doing something he could yell at her for. Like talking to Nate on the phone.

"Good morning, Chuck." Blair said icily, letting him know that she was pissed.

"Hello Blair, have a pleasant rest?"

"It was amazing actually, the best sleep I've had in _years_."

"That's nice. I take it Nate serves for more than an empty head then; does he come with a personal heater?"

"Nate? Hm, now why would you bring him into this?" Blair asked innocently.

"I don't know, maybe because he was in your room last night."

"He was? Well damn, that's news to me. How did you know that he was?"

"Blair, cut the shit, I know, okay? Why can't you just be mature about this?"

"_Mature_?" Blair spat. "How can you talk to me about being mature when you started a bar brawl with Nate?"

"Well aren't you curious about what Nate and I got into a fight about?"

"Of course, go ahead and tell me."

"You."

"Well. There's a shocker. Care to elaborate?"

"Getting back to the fact that Nate was in your room last night, that's what we were fighting about."

Blair didn't respond, she was done with the banter, they needed to have a real conversation, the wedding was today, and after everything that had happened last night she wasn't sure of what she wanted anymore.

"How did you know?"

"I have my ways."

"Chuck, just tell me. I'm tired of all the games. I want the truth."

"You're tired of _games?_ And you want the _truth?_ Is that seriously what you just said?"

"Yes, what's the problem with that? We're not teenagers anymore, Chuck; I don't care how much you want to think we are. I want to have a serious relationship."

"Well you should have thought about that before!" Chuck shouted, finally raising his voice. He was tired of the act Blair was constantly playing. One minute she'd be all there, then the next he was sure she was thinking about Nate or how much her life was sucking at the time.

"I didn't know what I wanted, okay? I just- ugh I don't know! I thought that this would be fine and we'd be fine but it's not and I can't keep denying it. I thought that you might change, or maybe I thought I'd get used to it. I didn't think that Nate would be a problem but I guess I should have thought about leaving him behind before now because it's just not fair to either of you."

"Blair, what do you want? You know I'm crazy about you, but I'm not going to marry you if I constantly have to worry about you returning to your old habits. Watching that tape was hard enough, I don't ever want to walk into that."

"Tape? What tape, Chuck?"

Shit. Chuck Bass had been caught in his own set up, a rarity for him, but he wouldn't let Blair think that he hadn't have wished to disclose that particular information. A beat hadn't even passed and he was already responding with the truth.

"The tape from last night. I installed a camera in your room so I could see what you were up to, it's a damn good thing I did too, You would have never told me anything about Nate spending the night."

"Because it wasn't that big of a deal! Jesus, Chuck. I can't even believe you'd stoop so low. I haven't done anything that would ever make you question where my heart was, but you have to go and do this! Unbelievable. Even for you."

"Well, Blair, I'm so sorry that I'm not as secure with how I stand with you as I used to be. I haven't known what's been going on in your head for quite some time now. Apparently it's been filled with fantasies of our golden friend. So predictable, just when you were finally ready to be with me, you switch over to him. Again."

"That's not how it was Chuck, and you would know if you have video proof of what happened. Nothing happened. I don't understand how many times I have to say it."

"Well it didn't look like nothing was going on."

"I'm telling you the truth. Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it, just like I'll take you. I don't want you to go anywhere near him ever again. He's not coming to our wedding and he's not certainly not my best man. And don't call him to tell him he's not welcome. I'll have security handle him when he gets here."

"Chuck! You can't do that! You've already invited him and I swear to God, if this wedding ends up in the newspaper for being anything other than the 'Event of the Season' you are going to have an extreme amount of hell to pay. Nothing happened, can't you just accept it already?"

"Oh I'm accepting it, but I'd rather not be having this conversation. And I'm only accepting what you say because I have nothing else to go off of, so you'd better be telling the real truth."

"Well I am, so there's no problem there. now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get ready for _our _wedding and I think you should be doing the same. I'll see you at the alter."

Blair turned her back on him, walking purposely towards the door.

"I'll be the one in black." He called sarcastically to her retreating figure. She paused, but only for a second, shook her head once, and walked out the door.


	10. It's such a game to be adored

Sorry it took so long, I don't really have an excuse, I was just more focused on my other one-shots. Hopefully the next chapter will come out quicker as this one is kind of a cliffhanger.

Enjoy! (:

-----

When Serena finally made her appearance at the Palace it was not a minute too soon. She was quickly ushered up to Blair's suite by the wedding planner, and while she and Blair put on their dresses Blair worked on catching her blond friend up on everything she had missed in the past twenty four hours.

"And when they finally left me alone in my room, you'll never guess who called." Blair announced, pausing to give Serena a chance to guess.

"Uh, wow. I have no idea, B. Hah, it seems like the sun fried my brains." Serena giggled.

"S," Blair said, shaking her head in amusement. "How was Cabo anyway? We haven't gotten the chance to talk about what you've been up to lately."

"Oh, Cabo is Cabo. You know how much I love the sun at this time of the year, but my stories aren't interesting anyways, you're the one getting married! I want to know everything you've been up to, so tell me, who called?"

"Nate." Blair said, failing to hide the smile that came with saying his name aloud.

It took a beat for Serena to respond, she had stopped playing with her dress and was suddenly standing up straight, looking at her friend in white.

"Nate?" Serena questioned.

"Yes," Blair confirmed. "It was lovely, he took me out to dinner and we got to talking and-"

"B, do you really think it was the best idea for you to go out with Nate on the night before your wedding? I mean imagine how Chuck would feel if he were ever to find out? Wait, ohmygod, does Chuck know?!"

"Yes, Chuck knows. He's been giving me hell for it ever since he found out. Really though, I don't see what the big deal is. Nate's been one of my best friends for my whole life, what's so wrong with wanting to talk to him? Or even going out to eat with him? That's what friends do, they hang out."

"I know that, but really Blair, Nate hasn't always been just your friend, as a matter of fact, he's been your boyfriend so much that you can hardly even look at when you two were _just _friends."

"Yeah, but it's not like we did anything. I still don't understand what the big deal is. Chuck wanted to get security to kick him out if he showed up, how immature is that? Nate didn't ever do anything to Chuck but Chuck's being prick about the whole situation."

"Blair, really, you know I'm your best friend and that I'll always love you, but you can't honestly tell me that nothing happened between you and Nate. I mean, I believe you if you say nothing _physical _happened, because I know you wouldn't do that to Chuck, but you can't tell me that you didn't feel anything, being back with Nate at all. You can't say that old emotions didn't flare up, especially because I know that Nate still loves you. You can tell me what really happened, I'm not going to think any less of you, but I think that as your best friend I have the right to know."

"Well," Blair began reluctantly. She knew that Serena wouldn't judge her, but that wouldn't stop her from being very vocal about how heartbroken Chuck would be if he ever found out how much she had really enjoyed spending time with Nate again and how much she planned to do so in the future if Nate still wanted her in his life. It wasn't even that big of a deal, but Serena had developed a strange and unexpected bond with Chuck after becoming his stepsister _and _his girlfriend's best friend, so any problem that had anything to do with him, she usually took his side.

"Come on, B. Just tell me."

"Okay, well it isn't that big of a deal, but he called me last night, asking me if I wanted to go out for dinner, so I went and we actually had a really good time. It was nice getting a chance to talk to him again, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him over the years. He just kind of disappeared after I started dating Chuck, so it was sweet of him to reach out to me in order to catch up."

"Well that's really good, Blair, I'm glad you got a chance to hang out with Nate again, but I really think you should have though about how Chuck was going to feel about it. I mean how did he find out anyway?"

Blair rolled her eyes and let out a breath of annoyance. She knew it. Serena and her loyalty to Chuck.

"No, of course I didn't _tell_ him. He found out anyways, the asshole set my room up with a complimentary camera. And already said, it was no big deal. We went out and we had a good time."

"And was that it?" Serena asked skepticly. "I seriously doubt Chuck would have freaked out if you just went and hung out, but if there was a camera in the _room, _oh Blair."

Blair hesitated.

"Shit, Blair. What happened?"

"He may have spent the night. Here."

Serena just glared.

"We shared the bed. But we didn't do anything, so don't freak out."

"Blair, I honestly don't understand how you couldn't expect me to freak out. You've already started cheating and you're not even married! B, this is so unlike you!"

"It's really not, if you think about it. I mean it could happen to anyone, and I'm still totally myself, I'm just seeing that I might have made a mistake in agreeing to get married so soon. I'm not going back on anything, I was just enjoying myself."

"Yeah, but Blair, you need to start thinking about how Chuck will feel if you enjoying yourself will come at his expense. It's not very fair."

"No, Serena, you know what's not fair? The fact that you _always _stick up for him and take his side about _everything._"

Serena opened her mouth to make a retort, but instead took a deep breath and hung her head.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I guess I have been a bit over protective of him since you guys got engaged, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." Blair scoffed, "just a bit."

The blond girl scrunched her face up apologetically.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure you guys stayed together, I don't think he'd have anyone if it wasn't for you."

Blair rolled her eyes.

"Oh shush!" Serena laughed, lightly backslapping Blair's arm.

"You're forgiven, now could you please help me with this makeup? The stylist that did it totally botched it up, I mean who wears blue eye shadow at their wedding?"

"Not Blair Waldorf." Serena replied sarcastically.

"No," Blair concurred, "certainly not Blair Waldorf."

Serena walked around to the side of the vanity where the makeup was and starting shuffling through it to find something that Blair would approve of.

"How about this one?" She question, holding up a tan shade of Chanel eye shadow.

"Perfect." Blair answered, closing her eyes to allow her friend to apply the makeup.

Serena got the brush right up to her brunette friend's eye when there was a knock heard at the door.

"I'll go get it." Serena said, hopping up and running toward the door before Blair could protest. She had a pretty good idea of who it was, and opened the door to reveal just that. Nate was standing there, looking quite lost with his hands in his pockets and his slightly disheveled hair.

"Oh, uh, hey Serena." Nate smiled sheepishly, like a kid who had been caught with his hand inside the cookie jar right before dinner.

"Hi Nate. Long time no talk, huh?" The blond asked dubiously.

"Yeah, it has been. So is Blair in?" He questioned, shifting his weight to his other foot to get a look inside the suite.

"Mmh, she is. But hold on, I want to talk to you on in the hall for a minute."

"Oh, it's really okay," Nate said, backing away from the door. "The thing I wanted to talk to herabout isn't actually that important, so I'll just be going."

"No, if it wasn't important then you wouldn't be here right now, but you are. And I think we need to have this talk anyways, for your sake, and for Blair's."

Nate sighed, but he walked down the hallway enough so that they weren't right on top of the door Serena had just come out of. He turned around and faced the girl he had, at one point, been so infatuated with. Now he felt nothing looking at her face, mixed with pain and sadness, all for his sake, he knew.

"So what did you want to say?" He asked, sounding a little more annoyed than he would have liked, he hated when people felt sorry for him.

Serena took a deep breath.

"Blair is marrying Chuck." She said pointedly.

"Yeah, I know that." Everyone did, and how could he not? It had been torturing him for some time now.

"I know you do, but you don't seem to understand that you and Blair can't happen ever again. It's over, and it has been for a long time. Please don't do this to her. I know you still love her, but she made a promise to Chuck and that can't be ignored."

"I don't _still _love her, I've always loved her, and I've always been the best person for her to be with. Chuck got in the way and he's stayed there. I couldn't do anything to change that because I didn't want to lose him as a friend, but I can't let this happen. Her and Chuck have never been right for each other. She's going to regret it."

"She loves Chuck, I know that much. I wouldn't be supporting this marriage if I didn't. And I know that Chuck loves her too. Face it, Nate, you blew it. You might think you've always loved her, but really, if you did then you wouldn't have lost your virginity to me, or ignored her when she needed you. You've got to let her go to Chuck or she'll never forgive you."

Nate shook his head. "No, she'll never forgive you for blinding supporting her getting married to Chuck. It's only a matter of time before he cheats on her. He's impulsive like that. He might love her, but you can't pretend that he'll never hurt her. It's in his nature, and he's only gotten along this far because he's kept quite about his late nights at Victrola."

"Nate, no. Don't say stuff like that. You're still Chuck's best friend. You can't tell anyone else about what he does. I know what he's like; he's my stepbrother, but you can't say he doesn't love Blair."

"See, but look!" Nate shouted accusingly. "You're only defending him because you 'know how he is'. What the fuck is that, Serena? Can you honestly say that you _want _your best friend to be stuck in a marriage where her husband isn't faithful to her?"

"I'm not saying that at all, Nate, and talk about the pot calling the kettle black? She was already in a relationship when her boyfriend was unfaithful to her, so you can't even be pointing the finger. She wants to be with Chuck, so let her. So help me Nate, if you don't calm down I'll make sure you get thrown out."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Chuck as already tried it; we didn't get along too well when we were having drinks earlier."

"God, Nate, why can't you just drop it? Just let her be happy, please? If you really love her then you will."

Nate sighed, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling.

"I can't do that." He said quietly. "I thought I could; when he told me he was proposing I played the best friend card and I was happy for him and I helped him pick out the ring. And when they made everything public I smiled at all the parties and told everyone how excited I was to see him end up with her. I did everything right, the whole time, but now that I know I've lost... I can't let go of her."

Serena tentatively reached out to take his hand. He allowed her to, but he just stood there, letting the heartbreak roll of of his skin.

"I'm sorry, Nate." She said sadly. "I knew it. This whole time I knew that it couldn't be easy for you. I saw you, trying to be happy and excited at all the parties. It just doesn't work like that. It was the hardest thing in the world for me to see Dan marry Vanessa, but he seemed to be happy, so I let him be. Why can't you do the same for Blair?"

"Because I don't want to, and it's selfish and greedy of me, but we had our whole lives planned out; together. Blair knew everything that she wanted, and I did too. Every good thing in my life has come from her, but now it's all slowly slipping away."

He sighed as he looked down at the ground. Serena was torn between her wanting to help Nate and her obligation to protect Chuck and his feelings, but she knew Nate deserved to be happy too, and in order for him to start living his life, he would need to say whatever he came here to say to Blair.

"Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to let you talk to Blair, but you won't have much time. We really need to be getting back together with the rest of the girls in the wedding party a few hours before the ceremony starts. Can you make that work?"

"Yeah," Nate nodded his head vigoursouly. "Yeah, that's fine. Thank you so much, that'll be perfect. But where will you be?"

"Uh," Serena deliberated. "I guess I'll keep watch at the elevator?" She asked uncertainly.

"Okay. Really, Serena, thanks so much, this means a lot to me."

"I know, Nate. That's why I'm doing it. I know how much you miss her, and I know it'll mean a lot to Blair. She's never forgotten you, even when she was with Chuck at parties, her eyes have never sparkled like they do when she sees you."

He tried to hid the smile of pleasure that came from Serena's reassuring words, but it came out anyways. It felt good to be loved, even if it was someone who he wasn't supposed to have.

"Okay, I'm going to go in now." He said, walking back towards the door.

"Oh, here." Serena reached out and got the key for him. "She's in the bedroom getting ready. Don't make her late, and please, say whatever you need to say and then let her go. If she knew how much you were torn up about her marrying Chuck then she would never do it."

Nate sighed. "I can't promise you that, but I won't go out of my way to let her know how miserable I am."

"Alright, well I'm gonna go now. And if you knew what was best for your friendship with Chuck, then you would get downstairs and help him out with whatever he needs as soon as possible."

"Okay, Serena, I got it. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, okay, bye." She said as she walked toward the elevator.

Nate turned his back on the retreating form of Serena and stuck the key in the door. He made sure to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to let Blair know he was there before he could see her.

"Serena? Who was that at the door?" She called from the back.

"Uh, it was me." He said, walking into the room.

Blair looked up, startled at first, but after seeing him she smiled and ran up to where he stood.

"Oh Nate!" She cried, throwing herself into his arms. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I am too." He smiled, taking her small hand in his and staring into her beautiful brown orbs.


	11. Some things that need to be said

Update time! Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and enjoying and favoriting this story, it really means a lot. Actually, it means so much that I worked on this thing everyday so I could thank you for sticking out that cliffhanger. And hey, guess what? It's only been 9 days. :D

-----

_"I'm so glad you're here."_

_"I am too." He smiled, taking her small hand in his and staring into her beautiful brown orbs._

_---_

"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Blair laughed.

Nate smiled at her hesitantly, looking around the hotel room where he had just spend the night and mulling over the words Serena had said in his head.

_"Just let her go, please."_

"What's wrong?" She questioned.

It really would be best for her if he left now, Nate couldn't help but think. If he were never to show his face in her life ever again.

"Nate?" She said, worried now for his lack of responce.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come." He said suddenly, looking toward the door.

"No! Really, it's fine. I don't mind you being here, just as long as you don't mind me going over my makeup the whole time."

He smiled, letting the old memories of the two of them together slip into his mind. "I always loved watching you do your makeup."

"I know," she said as she returned the smile.

Nate took a pause. 'It's really not that though, I should be going. You have to be getting downstairs soon anyways."

"I always have to for you, though." She said, taking his hand and dragging him over to sit on the bed. "And anyways, they would all be nothing without me."

"Blair, this isn't right, this can't happen."

She sighed, aggravated at his assumption. 'Nothing _is _happening."

"I have to be honest here, and I know I really shouldn't be, but I have to tell you this." He said.

"Okay, well go ahead." She replied, spreading the dress out around her petite body as she sat.

"I love you." He breathed. "I'm still in love with you and I have been for a while. You have no idea how hard it is for me to see you marrying him."

At one point, not too far off in her life, she would have jumped with joy to hear him saying those words to her, but as it was, she just couldn't be happy, it was too potentially damaging to the both of them. Instead she hung her head. More than anything she wanted to tell him exactly how much she loved him and wished he was the one she was pledging to spend the rest of her life with. She didn't deserve him now though, and it wasn't right of her to put him through all of this on her account.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"No, stop. This isn't your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for. I just wish I would have done a lot of things differently along the way."

"I do too." She nodded. "We both could have fixed some things."

"I know." He replied solemnly. "I would have changed everything."

Blair laughed a sad, soft laugh. "Then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess right now, huh?"

He shook his head. "We don't _have _to be in this mess." He said picking his head up and looking into her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him quizzically.

"We could leave. You could come away with me, right now." He jumped up excitedly, taking her hand and willing her to see the dreams he had had of the two of them racing in his head.

"Nate." Blair whispered painfully. "I-I can't."

"Why not?" He pleaded.

"I gave him my word." She said simply, as if that explained it all.

Nate closed his eyes and opened them again before responding.

"Yeah, but do you really think that matters now? I'm here, I want you, _I love you. _I will love you; forever._"_

She bit her lip and stared up at the ceiling, working to suppress the pools of water that had formed under her eyes to go away before they spilled down her face.

"Blair, please." He begged, sencing her fatal weakness: him. "Please, do it for me. Do it for us. Do it for the whole future we had planned out together. you can't remake a history like ours with Chuck, or with anyone else. No one in the world will ever love you as much I do, as much as I always have. You can't throw away everything we've had to be with him."

She whipped the tears away before he got the chance to, but she still had nothing to say, instead she squeezed his big hand in her small one and rubbed her thumb over his.

"Blair." He said once more, his voice cracking.

"No, no. I told you, Nate, no matter how much I want it, I can't do it." She finally said. "I can't do that to him, or this day, or my reputation. It's unacceptable. I gave him my word, that's something I have to live with."

"Oh, but you'll do this to me? You'll put me through this? Is that right? Is that how this works?" He questioned, becoming angry with her for crushing his dreams, but more for the way her words continued to slice through his heart.

"Nate! That's not it and you know it. Where have _you _been, anyways? You could have changed all of this, this isn't all my fault. I'm being the responsible adult here, your here acting like a child because you didn't get your way. Well guess what? Nothing would be like this if you would have figured your life out when you still got a chance to get everything you wanted."

"This has nothing to do with the fact that I didn't know what I wanted in life, there was always one thing that remained a constant for me, and that was you."

"No." She shook her head sadly. "You haven't always wanted me. Over the years you might have clued in some more, but you can't even start to say that I'm the only one you've ever wanted."

"Okay, fine then, that's how it was. But I have been loving you and missing you for a while now."

"You could have had me a long time ago. I got tired of waiting though, I couldn't do it any longer than I already had. My heart couldn't take it anymore."

"I know, and I'm sorry for that. But you could have given me a sign. If I would have known, if I'd seen any indication that you would have left him for me then I would have done something a long time ago." He said with anguish apparent in his voice and striking features.

"I should have, but I didn't. It wasn't all bad though, Chuck and I did have some good times together; we still do, occasionally. But you know I couldn't do that to him, no matter how my feelings for you greatly overpower the ones I have for him. He still loves me, and that's been enough. He's been there for me when you weren't, and he hasn't given me any reason not to trust him."

"Maybe you just haven't been paying attention." Nate muttered bitterly under his breath.

"What was that?" She snapped.

The mood of the room changed completely in that one quick second. When before the atmosphere was open and almost regretful, now it was full of anger and devastation.

"You heard me." He said, speaking louder now. "He has cheated on you, you've just been turning a blind eye."

"I have not!" She exclaimed, jumping up from the bed to face him. "He hasn't done anything in any matter, so I don't know what your insinuating."

"Really? Do you honestly think he needs to spend _that _much time at Victrola? He's invited me countless times; every time he gets a new dancer in fact."

She didn't have a comment to give about the latest revelation, so she turned back to the vanity to look for any imperfections on her face. She'd need to retouch the eye makeup from the cry she had _almost _had, but that was it.

"Blair," Nate said gently, sensing her anger and resentment towards him. "You can't do this again, you can't pretend everything is perfect with Chuck the way you tried to do with me when I cheated with Serena. It doesn't work like that, and if you keep ignoring the obvious, he's going to start ignoring you all together. I should know, it was the biggest mistake of my life."

When she finally did turn to face him again, it was with a look of pure iciness that she had perfected over the years. One that Nate had seen countless times, but never directed at him.

"Get out." She said calmly.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"I want you to get the fuck out of this room before I call security. You've said what you wanted to say, now leave me and my _perfect impressions _alone. The way I choose to live my life isn't up to you anymore, and it hasn't been for a while. We've been made painfully clear of that fact."

"Blair, I'm sorry. I was being too harsh, please, I just need you to see that you can't do this. I can't lose you this time."

Her hardened expression faltered, but only for a second. She had gone this long without him, and this was the perfect time to start resisting his empty promises that were always used at the ready when he decided she was good enough again. She was done with it, hopefully for good this time.

"It's too late for apologies. I'm done. You can see yourself to the door, and be sure not to show up at my wedding, you won't be welcome."

"Blair." He whispered.

"No, Nate. I'm serious this time. Hopefully I won't be seeing you soon. It was fun while it lasted. Goodbye."

He stood in the doorway for a few more seconds, just watching her as she ignored him. Finally he saw that she wasn't budging this time, and while he admired the strong will she had always had, he couldn't help but despise what it had caused for him. So he turned his back on the only girl he had ever loved and walked straight out the door, trying not to look at what he was leaving behind.

-----

Okay, so according to the outline I have, the next chapter is gonna be filled with a lot of stuff. So unless I decide to break it down or condense it some, it might take a while to get out, and I'm sorry if that's the case. But I do have a new one-shot/companion piece that should be out by early next week, so keep on the look out for that. Thanks!


	12. Don't cry child

Hey guys, Jordan here.

I'm sorry if the alert got any of your hopes up, if anyone even remembers what this story was about at all, but I just had to post to tell everyone that I'm going to be able to finish this story. I don't like how it has become in my head (daunting, repetitive, and predictable) and the "triangle" I've created is a joke. When I first started this story, I wasn't that great of a writer, and I feel like my writing now greatly triumphs the writing showcased in the previous chapters.

It's no guess how the story would have ended with me writing; with Blair and Nate together, and Chuck being out of the picture. I can't deal with trying to make the character of Chuck semi-likable in my mind anymore, because I honestly loathe him; and the same goes for Serena.

Looking back at past chapters, it seems like the same thing happens again and again, it's all gone around in circles, and the thought of trying to make sense of the mess I've created drives me crazy. There are so many things I wish I could have seen to do differently, but looking back, it seems that all I did was ramble.

I never wanted to leave a story without an ending, but there's still so much to be resolved and fixed here that I just can't handle it. I don't enjoy writing this story anymore like I used to, and I refuse to update with half-assed crap just to say I'm done. The prologue I used to tease the story to everyone doesn't even match up with the direction of the story anymore, so that would have to be fixed anyways.

Here is the plan that I was going to have for this story though, just so you know what would have happened: Nate wasn't going to go to the wedding, instead, he was going to leave the city and sail around the world for a while. Blair would be with Chuck, but he'd be cheating, just like she knew he would, and eventually, Nate would come back to her. They'd start an affair, and then Blair would get pregnant. After this occurrence, she would decide that she no longer wanted to put up the façade of being happy with Chuck in the way that society would want her to be. She would leave Chuck and wham!bam, Blair and Nate have their happy ending.

There probably would have been a better ending if I would have actually written it, as to not make it so cheesefryishy, but that's basically it.

So, that's basically it for this story. Maybe occasionally I'll post little snippets of dialogue that would have gone throughout the story, but I can't deal with any characters apart from Blair and Nate. Don't count on it, but it could always happen.

And now, as anyone who has read more than one of my stories will know, I'm big on self promotion, so here's my disclaimer: I do have a lot of great things I'm working on right now, and I'll be pushing to get them out soon, I just don't want to be slow with updates, so I'm going to try to write detailed outlines for chapter stories and such.

Thanks for following this story, and really, I am sorry. I would have liked to carry it out as well. You can use the 'leave a review' tool as a means to communicate with me, but I might not respond to it for a few weeks as I'll be leaving for Florida tomorrow.

Love you all! And thanks again.

-- Jordan 3


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